Christmas Events In Greater Victoria

This evening is the annual Christmas tree light up and Christmas Parade at Uptown Centre.

Event statement from uptown's site:

Don’t miss out on the Annual Lighting of our 54 ft. Christmas Tree on Saturday, November 17th at 6:10 PM. Arrive early to snag the best spots to our Christmas Parade. Take advantage of the ENTIRE Boulevard! Our Parade will loop the Boulevard, and don’t worry you’ll have enough time to make it back to Town Plaza for Santa to light the Tree at approx. 6:30 PM! Dress warmly and get yourself a warm treat from our amazing retailers. See you there!

Please note that Uptown Blvd will be closing at NOON on Saturday, November 17th in preparation for the parade.

The Parade was quick and to the point, but had some new entries in it this year.

The best part was when thouands of people all shouted out the 10 second countdown to the tree lighting in unison, and Confetti Canons placed up in the balconies fired out confetti all down Uptown Boulevard making it look like it was snowing.

If you are tired of those long Mall line ups to get your child's photo with Santa Claus, uptown is offering a unique experience for you and your little ones to enjoy a personal private 10 minute meeting with Santa Claus, and a digital photo to capture your memorable visit.

The Christmas Cottage is located in front of the 52 foot Christmas tree, and it costs $20 dollars for your private, personal 10 minute visit. An experience I'm sure you and your child will love.

You can view a great little flash video introduction to the Christmas cottage and you will need to book your reservation online at http://shopuptown.ca/thecottage/ and make sure to give your child's name so they can be added to the 'Nice List" for when they arrive.

Yeah when I called she said there was only 2 slots left on the 16th of December.

I tried selecting every day on the online booking calendar and that was the only one available. Good you got one though. I think the response they have had has been a little overwhelming for them and they did not expect it to sell so fast.

However it seems there are still going to be openings. This is the text response I got from Uptown Guest Services just now "The spots that were open today must have been booked up. Our schedule is a rolling schedule so as days go by more spots open up. Your best bet is to check the booking site first thing in the mornings."

So not sure how it works, but apparently even if you hover your pointer over the days of the booking calendar, and it says "No availability" that may not actually be the case. So Yes, I must recant the "Event Sold Out" follow up post.

I guess to just check the booking site first thing in the mornings and you may be lucky enough to get a spot.

I think it's a great way to see Santa that your kids(s) will remember forever because it's a private 10 minute long visit for each visitor inside the Christmas Cottage with nobody but the child, the parent, and the photographer.

the uptown santa does look like a pretty great addition to their christmas events.. though i wish they would have gotten a santa with a real beard (the malls do)

The ones with the real beards cost more to hire.. I knew a guy that used to be a professional Santa with a real beard. One year he was contracted by a company in Japan to go over there and do 7 days as a Santa. He was paid $50,000 dollars for one weeks work, all his meals, hotel, air fair, and expenses were paid as well on top of his $50,000 dollars.

I think as a Mall Santa here in town he was getting $300 dollars a day.

The ones with the real beards cost more to hire.. I knew a guy that used to be a professional Santa with a real beard. One year he was contracted by a company in Japan to go over there and do 7 days as a Santa. He was paid $50,000 dollars for one weeks work, all his meals, hotel, air fair, and expenses were paid as well on top of his $50,000 dollars.

I think as a Mall Santa here in town he was getting $300 dollars a day.

50K to do santa for a week oh my! that must have been quite a trip i don't think the average mall real beard santa comes close to that

for $300 i do think it's worth getting the real beard santa vrs some teenager with padding and a fake beard, i have an uncle that is santa..full beard the belly, even wears christmas related clothing in the summer his camping chair says "santa's chair" on it and even gives kids candy canes in the summer... sadly he lives in Prince Rupert

this summer we were up at a family gathering and he snagged some of the pop i had in the trailer, my kid came up to me and said "santa took some of your pepsi's" so i responded "does that mean santa's on the naughty list?" and that amused her to no end.. there are pictures of me on his knee when i was a kid in his full santa suit.. there is something about an older person playing santa, when they truly love to play santa, with the real beard, and they have that twinkle in their eye that no person in a fake white beard can match

Tonight is the BIG NIGHT! It's time for the Annual VictoriaChristmas Parade!

This Christmas Parade is the largest Night Time parade in all of Canada and it officially kicks off the Christmas season here in Victoria. It starts at 5pm in front of the Empress Hotel and works it's way up Government street to Christmas Square (centennial square)

Following the parade Santa will be handing out Free Cookies and Milk to all the Good Girls and Boys in Christmas Square and he will Turn the Lights on to the Square at 7pm Sharp!

Tonight is the BIG NIGHT! It's time for the Annual VictoriaChristmas Parade!

This Christmas Parade is the largest Night Time parade in all of Canada and it officially kicks off the Christmas season here in Victoria. It starts at 5pm in front of the Empress Hotel and works it's way up Government street to Christmas Square (centennial square)

Following the parade Santa will be handing out Free Cookies and Milk to all the Good Girls and Boys in Christmas Square and he will Turn the Lights on to the Square at 7pm Sharp!

Got dragged out to the parade by our daughter and her BF; lots of fun as it turned out, as the 60-odd thousand other attendees will attest. Hadn't gone down since 2011 when Olivia participated as one of the tap dancers.

I've played Santa on a few occasions in recent years at local retirement homes. Really enjoyed it too although it was a little unnerving whenever the old gals' hands would "wander" whenever sitting on Old St Nick's knee - sorry Midnightly the beard is fake

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As residents of a small Nova Scotia town mourn a little girl who was run over by a float in the annual Christmas parade, questions are being raised about safety measures along the parade route.

A witness to the tragedy, local resident Vance Webb, said when he arrived to watch the parade with his step-son and three grandsons, he and his wife noticed there were vehicles parked on both sides of Main Street — the same street used for the parade. “

They were parked all along the parade route, bumper-to-bumper,” he said in an interview. “It created hundreds of spots where kids were running in and out.

It reduced the road size. Of course, kids want to see the parade, so there’s a tendency for them to poke out from behind the cars.”

Its not the cheapest activity on earth but especially if you've never been the Butchart Garden's Christmas displays are nice and worthwhile. You are forewarned its typically crowded when the weather cooperates, i.e. when there is no rain. It's become something of a tradition for us and is particularly magical if there is some snow in the offing:

The BC Government is issuing Christmas Tree cutting permits to anyone who wants one.

I believe this is a first, or at least I have no memory of them doing this before.

You can apply online for the permit, which allows you to go into the forest and cut down your very own Christmas Tree (Legally)

Rules are in place of course:

Tree cutting can ONLY occur within the approved areas of Forest Service Roads (FSR) within the South Island Natural Resource District, identified on the Schedule A Map.

Tree cutting on Forest Service Roads must occur within three (3) metres (10 feet) of the road surface edge. The FSR road surface edge is defined as three (3) metres (10 feet), beyond the edge of the ditch or excavated portion of the forest road bank or fill slope.

The Free Use Permit authorizes the Permittee to cut one (1) and only (1) Christmas tree for the Permittee’s personal use. The Permittee should be certain that the tree being cut is the one wanted.

A Christmas Tree cut under the authority of this permit must not be offered for sale.

A tree cut shall not exceed 15 centimetres in diameter measured at a point 30 centimetres from the ground.

Cut all trees off flat at the stump no higher than 10 centimetres. Clean up and remove debris and slash associated with your activity.

DO NOT cut any tree taller than 5 metres.

DO NOT cut any trees within 30 metres of any stream, wetland or lake.

The permittee assumes all risk of loss or injury and agrees to indemnify the Crown against and save it harmless from all claims, demands, suits, actions, causes of action, costs, expenses and losses faced, incurred or suffered by the Crown as a result, directly or indirectly, by an act or omission of: the permittee; or by any other person who on behalf of or with the consent of the permittee engages in any activity under or associated with this Free Use Permit.

The permittee must carry this permit and map while harvesting and transporting the Christmas Tree and must produce a permit at the request of a Natural Resource Officer, a Forest Official, a Conservation Officer, or Peace Officer. This permit constitutes and exemption from the timber marking and scaling requirements in accordance with Section 84 of the Forest Act. Failure to have this permit in the permittees possession, the possession of more than one (1) tree per permit, or harvesting in areas not designated for cutting by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development may result in the tree(s) being seized and enforcement action taken.

This permit is subject to the Forest and Range Practices Act.

Apply online at the following link if you would like to go into the forest and cut down your own ChristmsTree: https://www2.gov.bc....as-tree-permits If you apply online, your permit will be e-mailed to you within 30 minutes. You then print it out and carry it on you when you go to cut down your tree in the forest. The closest Tree cutting area for us South Islanders is the Cowichan Valley.